Jordan Szwarz

The Ottawa Senators continue to bring in talent from their division rivals, signing former Providence Bruins captain Jordan Szwarzper a team release. It is a one-year, two-way contract for Szwarz worth $800K in the NHL. Szwarz, 28, has skated in 47 NHL games with the Bruins and Coyotes in his career.

Szwarz, 28, has been an excellent minor league player for nearly a decade, and is coming off his third consecutive 20 goal season for the Providence Bruins. That kind of offensive consistency at the AHL level is exactly what the Belleville Senators were looking for, after their team was led almost entirely by young prospects that will likely be graduating to the NHL in the upcoming years.

Free agency is now just a few days away and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. The Boston Bruins have a several important restricted free agents they will have to focus on as they will have to lock up some of their top young defenders, while they also have a couple useful unrestricted free agents. The question will be whether they are willing to pay up to keep them.

Key Restricted Free Agent: D Charlie McAvoy – With all the talk around the league of high-priced expectations for many of the top restricted free agent forwards around the league, arguably the best restricted free agent defenseman in McAvoy has seemingly flown under the radar. McAvoy has been amazing and has quickly taken over as the future of the Bruins defense, posting 14 goals and 60 points over the past two years with Boston. The 21-year-old has been the perfect offensive addition on the blueline since arriving after two years at Boston University. If there was something that could be holding McAvoy back, it would be his inability to stay healthy as he played just 63 games in his rookie year and then played even less last year in 54 games total. Despite that, the RFA should pick up a big pay raise over the $1.26MM he made last season.

D – Brandon Carlo – In many ways, Carlo is the opposite of McAvoy. The 22-year-old is not known for his offense, but is a defensive player who has needed time to develop and only more recently has he developed into a shutdown defender that Boston had envisioned when they drafted the 6-foot-5 blueliner in the second round back in 2015. While he isn’t likely to come anywhere close to the money that McAvoy should receive, Carlo has become a key player on the team’s top-four and should only continue to get better.

F – Danton Heinen – One thing the Boston Bruins need are top-six wingers to continue posting the offense they are used to. The question is whether Heinen is that guy for them. After putting up 16 goals and 47 points in his rookie season, many people suspected that Heinen would continue to thrive in that role. Instead, he struggled putting the puck into the net and eventually found himself put on the team’s third line as he failed to produce, finishing the season with just 11 goals and 34 points. The question is which player is he? The team must decide that, likely ending up with a short-term deal so that Heinen can prove that he deserves to be paid.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: F Marcus Johansson – The team fared quite well at the trade deadline, acquiring players who truly helped the franchise reach the Stanley Cup this season. One of the key players was Johansson, who had struggled in two seasons with New Jersey, but proved to be a big contributor in the playoffs, putting up four goals and 11 points in 22 playoff games. Unfortunately, his success could have priced himself out of Boston’s salary cap plans, but there is hope that both teams could still work out a deal. However, the team may be forced to look elsewhere if the 28-year-old can net himself an impressive offer from another team later this week.

F – Noel Acciari – Six goals and 14 points may not sound like much, but the 27-year-old has become a fixture on Boston’s fourth line. While the team could survive without him, Acciari is well known for his hard-hitting style of play and his willingness to sacrifice his body to help the team. In fact, the fourth-liner suffered a broken sternum, yet still played through it throughout the playoffs, something that any team might appreciate. Regardless, the team has made an offer and Acciari opted not to accept it, so the team could end up losing him, although a deal remains possible.

Projected Cap Space: The Bruins currently sit a little more than $12MM under the cap ceiling, according to CapFriendly, but still must add McAvoy, which could end up being pricey, while also having to sign Carlo and Heinen. That should take a chunk of that cap space, but the team should still have the ability to sign one of their unrestricted free agents or even find a couple of cheaper options on the unrestricted free agent market on Monday.

With a long layoff coming until their next matchup, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney revealed the team’s Black Aces during a press conference earlier today, according to Boston Globe’s Matt Porter. The 12 players are expected to help the NHL team practice and likely to get some practice games in before the Stanley Cup begins on May 27.

Golden Knights center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare will be seeking a multi-year contract on the open market, reports David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The 34-year-old was an important part of the bottom six group in Vegas over the past two seasons; his faceoff prowess and ability to kill penalties should help him garner some interest for teams looking to upgrade their fourth line. However, with several pricey extensions kicking in for next season, it’s unlikely that Vegas will be able to afford to retain him unless he’s willing to take a pay cut on the $1.45MM he received in each of the last two seasons.

Hurricanes prospect Eetu Luostarinen will miss the remainder of the World Championships due to a knee injury, the IIHF announced. The 20-year-old was held off the scoresheet in four appearances. Luostarinen has one more left on his current contract with KalPa Kuopio of the Finnish SM-liiga and will likely make the jump to North America following the 2019-20 season.

Recalls and reassignment are few and far between these days, with just eight teams still alive in the NHL and AHL alike. A flurry of activity occurred today though, as two surviving Stanley Cup Playoffs contenders have called up a number of players from their AHL affiliates, who both ducked out of the Calder Cup Playoffs with first-round losses. According to the AHL, both the Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins have recalled their “black aces”, the group of minor league players brought up largely to practice with the NHL team during the postseason once their own season is over. With the salary cap not a factor in the postseason, most big league teams often choose to bring up a large number of AHLers for the experience, as well as emergency depth, and the Avs and Bruins have done just that.

Little more than a paper move for the Avalanche, the team has called up five players from their neighboring affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. The group includes goaltender Pavel Francouz, defenseman Anton Lindholm, and forwards A.J. Greer, Dominic Toninato, and Logan O’Connor. Each of these players has logged time with the Avs this season, with Greer leading the way with 15 games while the others all played in at least two. The skaters played minimal roles and combined for just three points, but Francouz, a veteran import from the KHL, was clutch in two relief appearances with a .943 save percentage and 1.96 GAA. Yet, it is Francouz who is least likely to see any playoff action as the third-string keeper. With lineup regular Matt Calvertbattling an injury, one of the forwards could in fact make an appearance in this postseason. Greer and O’Connor, who finished second and third respectively in Eagles scoring, would be the top candidates.

Boston’s recruits are not coming from far away either, as they have called up a whopping 13 players from the nearby Providence Bruins. Forwards Anton Blidh– who signed an extension earlier today – Paul Carey, Peter Cehlarik, Ryan Fitzgerald, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Trent Frederic, Zach Senyshyn, Lee Stempniak, Jack Studnicka, and Jordan Szwarzand defensemen Jeremy Lauzon, Urho Vaakanainen, and Jakub Zborilhave joined the club. Amazingly, all but Fitzgerald, Studnicka, and Szwarz have suited up for Boston this season and Szwarz played in a dozen NHL games last year. The least experienced name is actually the most exciting, as this will be Studnicka’s first non-training camp experience with the Bruins. The 20-year-old, who most consider the Bruins’ top prospect, is fresh off a 73-point regular season and point-per-game postseason in the OHL and his NHL debut is highly anticipated. However, it is very unlikely to come in these playoffs. In fact, the Bruins are deep at every position as is and it would be a surprise to see any of their “black aces” take the ice outside of extenuating circumstances. On the other had, the team could use some energy and offense in their current series, so who knows.

While the NHL All-Star Game has to deal with players pulling out due to injury, the AHL contest also has to deal with players being recalled at a moment’s notice. That forces the league to replace players regularly, and today they’ve added four new names to the upcoming event.

A substantial group of players again went untouched on the waiver wire yesterday, as there remains just one claim so far this season. Today, a new set of names become briefly available on their way down to the AHL. According to The Athletic’s James Mirtle, these 18 players have been placed on waivers by their respective teams today, highlighted by Ottawa’s longest-tenured player:

Obviously, Smith is the star of this group and easily the biggest name to hit the wire so far this year. The decision to placed the veteran forward, a career Senator entering his eleventh season, on waivers is a curious one. Admittedly, Smith did not play well last season; beyond only recording 19 points in 68 games, he logged a brutal -32 rating, saw a drop-off in face-off success, and struggled in many possession metrics. Nevertheless, he remained a favorite of head coach Guy Boucher and saw a career high in ice time. After losing the likes of Erik Karlssonand Mike Hoffmanthis summer, Smith – while not the strongest player – was one of the few loyal locker room leaders left in Ottawa. There has already been a negative response, as Matt Duchenecalled the move “a kick in the balls” for the locker room, according to TSN’s Brent Wallace. For some reason, the team has decided to move on, one way or another. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the Senators have been shopping Smith for some time and had trade interest, but were not able to come to an agreement with any of the teams not included on Smith’s limited list per his modified No-Trade Clause. Now, they will either lose him for nothing in return or have the ability to bury him in the minors if he clears. Such a demotion would clear $1.025MM in cap space of his $3.25MM salary. It is important to note when considering any potential claims, that Smith is signed for three more years, making his inclusion on waivers even more surprising.

The group of Canadiens could also offer some appeal, particularly the 23-year-old power forward McCarron. Although the 2013 first-round pick has not lived up to expectations yet, he has the one thing you can’t teach and that is size. At 6’6″, 230-lbs., McCarron has the frame to do some damage at his spot on the right wing if put in the right system with the right line mates. It hasn’t happened yet in Montreal, but some other team may be willing to take a shot. Veteran grinder Froese, who played in 48 games with the Habs last year, could also get a passing glance, while trade recent Montreal trade acquisitions Shinkaruk and Valiev are somewhat intriguing albeit not likely to be claimed.

Team in search of young, affordable fourth line help could look at the Bruins’ Blidh and Cave, although such a move is unlikely. The same goes for Haggerty, whose placement on waivers comes as surprise, given that no contract has of yet been announced with Pittsburgh for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin.

Though the team sent him down to the minor leagues earlier today, it’s not all bad news for Jordan Szwarz. The Boston Bruins forward has signed a one-year two-way contract extension which will keep him in the organization through 2018-19. Szwarz will earn $650K at the NHL level, while securing $350K while in the AHL. Szwarz was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Now 26, Szwarz has really flourished as an offensive player since joining the Providence Bruins in 2016. Last season, he led the club in scoring with 54 points before being a key part of a deep playoff run. This season has been much of the same, with 44 points in 46 games for the AHL club. Though he won’t lead the team this year—that honor is held by Austin Czarnik and his 61 points in 56 games—he is still one of the leaders for the minor league squad and a useful player to keep around for Boston.

In 12 NHL games this season, Szwarz has just three points and is still looking for his first goal, but has been used in various roles including some time (albeit limited) on the powerplay. Useful depth pieces are important for every organization, and especially one that is expecting to challenge for the Stanley Cup this year and in the immediate future. Long playoff runs almost always result in several injuries, and with the Bruins already dealing with various ailments throughout the lineup Szwarz could be just a shift or two away from being needed in the postseason.

Despite a busy Friday, there is a large slate of games on the schedule for Saturday which means there should be several roster moves made leading up to puck drop. We’ll keep tabs on those here.

The Blue Jackets have once again shuffled their backup goaltenders, announcing that Joonas Korpisalo (along with forward Markus Hannikainen) have been assigned to Cleveland of the AHL while netminder Matiss Kivlenieks has been recalled. Korpisalo has only played in four NHL contests this season which isn’t ideal for a waiver-exempt goalie so this will allow him to get a game or two in at the minor league level before swapping back in the near future. As for Hannikainen, he has been in and out of the lineup this year and has four points in 12 games despite playing just over eight minutes per game.

The Bruins announced that they have recalled winger Jordan Szwarz on an emergency basis and have returned defenseman Rob O’Gara to AHL Providence. Szwarz rejoins Boston after being sent down back on Wednesday. He has played time times with the big club in 2017-18, collecting three assists but has been quite productive in Providence, picking up eight points in only six games. Meanwhile, O’Gara has split the season between the NHL and AHL so far. In eight appearances with Boston, he has been held off the scoresheet while logging 10:59 per night and has collected two assists in seven minor league contests.

Chris DiDomenico’s debut with Tampa Bay will have to wait a while yet as the team has assigned him to Syracuse of the AHL on a conditioning stint, per the AHL’s Transactions Page. The Lightning claimed him off waivers from the Senators on Friday but he hasn’t played in nearly a week.